Augmented reality gifting on a mobile device

ABSTRACT

A system for receiving environment information, gift information, and location information and creating an augmented gifting environment are presented herein. An application may receive an image of a gifting environment and a gift to be placed in the gifting environment. A gift recipient may scan the environment that is represented by the gifting environment and the application may provide a virtual gift representing the gift in the scanned environment presenting the virtual gift in an augmented reality environment.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This non-provisional patent application claims priority benefit, withregard to all common subject matter, of earlier-filed U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 62/673,280, filed May 18, 2018, and entitled“AUGMENTED REALITY GIFTING ON A MOBILE DEVICE.” The identifiedearlier-filed provisional patent application is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety into the present application.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

Embodiments of the invention relate to presenting and receiving giftsvia a mobile device. More specifically, embodiments of the inventionrelate to presenting and receiving gifts in an augmented realityenvironment presenting a virtual gift via a mobile device.

2. Related Art

Online gift giving is becoming more and more popular. Typically, giftsare purchased online and either delivered to a recipient via a parceldelivery service or in some form of digital message. The recipient mayuse the gift or, in the event of a stored-value card, redeem the gift atan online retailer's website or at a retail store. The problemassociated with a conventional online gifting system as described isthat there is no personalization. Further, these methods do not utilizetechnology to provide new and exciting methods of enhancing delivery andreceipt of the gifts.

The Internet is being accessed more frequently by mobile devices. Asthis trend continues, online gift giving also is becoming amobile-to-mobile endeavor. What is lacking in the prior art are new andinnovative ways for a gift giver to customize the gift and the deliveryof the gift to the recipient utilizing mobile devices and features ofmobile devices. Further, what is needed, is a method for purchasing andsending a gift to a recipient that allows the gift giver and therecipient to view the gift in a particular environment before purchase.This allows both the gift giver and the recipient the ability to see howthe gift will fit in with the environment and/or recipient.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention solve the above-mentioned problems byproviding a system and method for providing to a gift giver anapplication that allows the user to find and purchase a gift. A virtualgift representing the gift may then be placed in an augmented realityscene, or gifting environment, that may be an image of a locationscanned on a mobile device of the user. The gifting environment maypresent objects suitable for presenting the gift and the gift giver mayselect the object or location for placement of the virtual gift. A giftrecipient may receive notification via the application that the gift hasbeen purchased or the virtual gift has been placed. The gift recipientmay then search for the virtual gift receiving clues such as, forexample, GPS coordinates or proximity notifications. The gift recipientmay scan the gifting environment using the camera on a recipient mobiledevice to discover the virtual gift. The gift recipient may then chooseto accept the gift by interacting with the recipient mobile device.

A first embodiment is directed to one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that,when executed by a processor, perform a method of presenting a virtualgift to a recipient using augmented reality, the method comprising thesteps of receiving a selection of a gift from a gift giver, receiving atleast one image of a gifting environment via a giver mobile device,receiving a scan of the gifting environment from a recipient mobiledevice, and presenting the virtual gift in a real-time scan of thegifting environment on the recipient mobile device to create theaugmented reality of the gifting environment.

A second embodiment is directed to a method for selecting and presentinga virtual gift to a recipient using augmented reality, the methodcomprising the steps of receiving a selection of a gift from a giftgiver, receiving at least one image of a gifting environment via a givermobile device, discerning a plurality of objects from the giftingenvironment, determining at least one object from the plurality ofobjects for placement of the virtual gift, and presenting the giftingenvironment and the virtual gift to the gift recipient.

A third embodiment is directed to a method for presenting a gift to arecipient using augmented reality, the method comprising the steps ofreceiving a notification indicative of a gift for the recipient,receiving an indication of a location of at least one of a giftingenvironment or a virtual gift, scanning the gifting environment with acamera associated with a recipient mobile device, selecting, using therecipient mobile device, the virtual gift from the gifting environment,and viewing the gift via the recipient mobile device.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the detaileddescription. This summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Other aspectsand advantages will be apparent from the following detailed descriptionof the embodiments and the accompanying drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

Embodiments of this disclosure are described in detail below withreference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts an embodiment of a hardware system for implementingembodiments of the invention;

FIG. 2A depicts an embodiment of an application on a giver mobile devicescanning a gifting environment;

FIG. 2B depicts an embodiment of the application on the giver mobiledevice placing a virtual gift in the gifting environment;

FIG. 3A depicts an embodiment of the application displaying a map;

FIG. 3B depicts an embodiment of the application displaying the giftingenvironment presenting the virtual gift;

FIG. 3C depicts an embodiment of the application presenting the gift;and

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary flow diagram of embodiments of the inventionfor selecting and placing a gift.

The drawing figures do not limit the invention to the specificembodiments disclosed and described herein. The drawings are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the invention solve the above-described problems andprovide a distinct advance in the art by providing a method and systemfor presenting in augmented reality a virtual gift in a giftingenvironment on a mobile device. The virtual gift may be presented to arecipient in the gifting environment such as, for example, in an imageof the user's living room on a coffee table. The user may perform anaction to open the virtual gift revealing the contents therein.

The following description of embodiments of the invention references theaccompanying illustrations that illustrate specific embodiments in whichthe invention can be practiced. The embodiments are intended to describeaspects of the invention in sufficient detail to enable those skilled inthe art to practice the invention. Other embodiments can be utilized,and changes can be made, without departing from the scope of theinvention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to betaken in a limiting sense.

In this description, references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”,“embodiments”, “various embodiments”, “certain embodiments”, “someembodiments”, or “other embodiments” mean that the feature or featuresbeing referred to are included in at least one embodiment of thetechnology. Separate references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”,“embodiments”, “various embodiments”, “certain embodiments”, “someembodiments”, or “other embodiments” in this description do notnecessarily refer to the same embodiment and are also not mutuallyexclusive unless so stated and/or except as will be readily apparent tothose skilled in the art from the description. For example, a feature,structure, act, etc. described in one embodiment may also be included inother embodiments but is not necessarily included. Thus, the currenttechnology can include a variety of combinations and/or integrations ofthe embodiments described herein.

Broadly speaking, embodiments of the invention provide for a recipientof an online gift to experience the fun and excitement of receiving agift. For example, the recipient may have to hunt for the gift using anaugmented reality application provided by their mobile device. A virtualgift representing the gift may be placed in the augmented reality in animaged gifting environment. Once the user discovers the giftingenvironment, the user may use a camera of a mobile device to scan thegifting environment revealing the virtual gift on the mobile devicedisplay. The user may then interact with the mobile device in some wayusing one or more input devices or sensors of the mobile device tovirtually unwrap the virtual gift revealing the gift.

Turning first to FIG. 1, an exemplary hardware platform that can formone element of certain embodiments of the invention is depicted.Computer 102 can be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a servercomputer, a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet, or any otherform factor of general- or special-purpose computing device. Depictedwith computer 102 are several components, for illustrative purposes. Insome embodiments, certain components may be arranged differently orabsent. Additional components may also be present. Included in computer102 is system bus 104, whereby other components of computer 102 cancommunicate with each other. In certain embodiments, there may bemultiple busses or components may communicate with each other directly.Connected to system bus 104 is central processing unit (CPU) 106. Alsoattached to system bus 104 are one or more random-access memory (RAM)modules 108. Also attached to system bus 104 is graphics card 110. Insome embodiments, graphics card 104 may not be a physically separatecard, but rather may be integrated into the motherboard or the CPU 106.In some embodiments, graphics card 110 has a separategraphics-processing unit (GPU) 112, which can be used for graphicsprocessing or for general purpose computing (GPGPU). Also on graphicscard 110 is GPU memory 114. Connected (directly or indirectly) tographics card 110 is display 116 for user interaction. In someembodiments no display is present, while in others it is integrated intocomputer 102. Similarly, peripherals such as keyboard 118 and mouse 120are connected to system bus 104. Like display 116, these peripherals maybe integrated into computer 102 or absent. Also connected to system bus104 is local storage 122, which may be any form of computer-readablemedia, and may be internally installed in computer 102 or externally andremoveably attached.

Computer-readable media include both volatile and nonvolatile media,removable and nonremovable media, and contemplate media readable by adatabase. For example, computer-readable media include (but are notlimited to) RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology,CD-ROM, digital versatile discs (DVD), holographic media or otheroptical disc storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic diskstorage, and other magnetic storage devices. These technologies canstore data temporarily or permanently. However, unless explicitlyspecified otherwise, the term “computer-readable media” should not beconstrued to include physical, but transitory, forms of signaltransmission such as radio broadcasts, electrical signals through awire, or light pulses through a fiber-optic cable. Examples of storedinformation include computer-useable instructions, data structures,program modules, and other data representations.

Finally, network interface card (NIC) 124 is also attached to system bus104 and allows computer 102 to communicate over a network such asnetwork 126. NIC 124 can be any form of network interface known in theart, such as Ethernet, ATM, fiber, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi (i.e., the IEEE802.11 family of standards). NIC 124 connects computer 102 to localnetwork 126, which may also include one or more other computers, such ascomputer 128, and network storage, such as data store 130. Generally, adata store such as data store 130 may be any repository from whichinformation can be stored and retrieved as needed. Examples of datastores include relational or object-oriented databases, spreadsheets,file systems, flat files, directory services such as LDAP and ActiveDirectory, or email storage systems. A data store may be accessible viaa complex API (such as, for example, Structured Query Language), asimple API providing only read, write and seek operations, or any levelof complexity in between. Some data stores may additionally providemanagement functions for data sets stored therein such as backup orversioning. Data stores can be local to a single computer such ascomputer 128, accessible on a local network such as local network 126,or remotely accessible over Internet 132. Local network 126 is in turnconnected to Internet 132, which connects many networks such as localnetwork 126, remote network 134 or directly attached computers such ascomputer 136. In some embodiments, computer 102 can itself be directlyconnected to Internet 132.

In some embodiments, an application may run on the computer 102 and thecomputer 128 which, in some embodiments, may be mobile devices or may beaccessed via mobile devices and run in a web-based environment from aweb browser of the user 138. The web-based environment may store datasuch that it is not required for the mobile device or computer to havedownloaded and stored large amounts of data for the application. Theapplication may access data such as object databases, user profiles,information related to other users, financial information, third-partyfinancial institutions, third-party vendors, social media, or any otheronline service or website that is available over the internet.

In some embodiments of the invention, the application may access orstore a profile of the user 138. In some embodiments, the user 138 maybe a gift giver or a recipient of the gift. The user 138 may be anyperson or persons that access the application through any applicationaccessible device. The application may be downloaded on the mobiledevice which, in some embodiments, is computer 102 or accessed via theInternet as in a cloud-based application. The user 138, in the case of anew user, may be prompted to set up a profile for use with theapplication. The user 138 may input such exemplary items as age, race,nationality, favorite stores, fashion trends, designers, and anyinformation associated with a gift giver or a recipient such that theapplication may customize offers and provide a unique experience for theuser 138. For example, the gift giver may set up an account includingthe user profile and submit user preferences to the application based ona recipient's likes and dislikes such that the application may providegift suggestions based on the likes and dislikes of the recipient.Further, the gift giver or the recipient may provide access to socialmedia sites such that the application may access the information on thesocial media sites of the gift giver and the recipient to determine giftsuggestions. In some embodiments, the application may access any of aplurality of peripheral devices such as a camera, microphone, GPS,accelerometer, gyroscope, or any other peripheral device that may beuseful in embodiments as described below.

The profile of the user 138 may also store historical information basedon the actions or interactions with the application by the user 138.Financial transactions, viewed items, online searches, or anyinformation gathered from any of the online databases mentioned abovemay be used to assist in creating a unique experience for the user 204.Further, a time spent viewing items may be used to determine a higherlevel of interest in particular items. Any items may be cross-referencedfor similarities to determine other items that may be offered as gifts.The profile of the user 138 may be updated continuously such that theoffers are based on the newest information from the user 138 andassociated context received from the mobile device.

In some embodiments, the user 138 may be the gift giver and may select agift from the suggested gifts on the application. The gift giver mayselect the gift directly through the application in communication with athird-party site or may, upon selection of the gift, be directed to thethird-party site via a link. Once the gift is selected, the gift may bepurchased and an image of the gift may be stored as a virtual gift forplacement in the gifting environment as described in embodiments below.

In some embodiments, the gift may be purchased directly through theapplication or through a third-party website. The profile of the giftgiver may be associated with an account for direct financialtransactions such as a savings, checking, or a credit card account orany indirect financial transactions through an intermediate third-partyfinancial transaction institution may be conducted. In some embodiments,the profile of the gift giver may store biometric data for the giftgiver. This can be used, for example, to confirm that the gift giver isaccessing the application. This may be determined with a password,Personal Identification Number (PIN), or any biometric identifier suchas, for example, fingerprint recognition, facial recognition, voicerecognition, a retinal scan, or any other biometrics. This may provide ahigh level of security to the financial transactions conducted by theuser 204 through the application.

FIGS. 2A-2B depict a gifting environment 200 or location for placing avirtual gift 214 or augmented reality gifting presentation. In someembodiments the gifting environment 200 is scanned or photographed bythe gift giver via the giver mobile device 202 to determine one or morepotential locations for gift placement. The image or video may be storedin a remote data store or on the giver mobile device 202 and accessibleby the application such that the application may combine a virtual imageof the gift for placement in the gifting environment 200.

FIGS. 2A-2B depict the gifting environment 200 which in this case is theexemplary living room 204 including, a couch 206, coffee table 208, book210, lamp 212, and virtual gift 214. Though the living room 204 isdescribed as the gifting environment 200 in embodiments herein, anyenvironment indoors or outdoors may be the gifting environment 200 andany objects may be used to emplace the virtual gift 214 as describedbelow.

In some embodiments, the virtual gift 214 is representative of the giftto be given from the gift giver to the recipient. The virtual gift 214may be created by the application or gift giver imaging the gift from athird-party website or by the gift giver taking photograph of the giftand uploading the resulting image to the application. In someembodiments, multiple images may be taken creating different views ofthe gift such that the application may piece the different viewstogether creating a 3-D image of the gift. The resulting virtual gift214 may be three dimensional such that it may be rotated to fit onobjects and in locations within the gifting environment. The 3-D imageof the virtual gift 214 may also provide the recipient a good look atthe gift when deciding any modifications before accepting the gift.

The selection of a gift may be made from a third-party vendor ordirectly through the application from a list of a plurality of suggestedgifts as described in embodiments below. The gift may be any type ofphysical gift, consumer products, services, vouchers, tokens,stored-value card, or electronically redeemable gift at any retail oronline store. In some embodiments, the virtual gift 214 may represent orbe associated with the gift selected by the gift giver. For example, theapplication may use any information associated with the user 138 (thegift giver or gift recipient) and scanning of the environment to suggestgifts. For example, if the gift giver has chosen to give the recipient agift card, the application may access databases of nearby retailers andsuggest gifts that match the color or objects in the gifting environment200 and may be purchased using the gift card. Similarly, a gift card orvoucher redeemable at the nearby retailer may be suggested as the gift.

In some embodiments, the suggestions may be based on the decor orobjects within the gifting environment 200. For example, the applicationmay determine that the gifting environment 200 is the living room 204and many of the objects in the living room 204 are from a particularretailer. The application accesses the online website of the retailerand suggests gifts from the website that match the color scheme anddecor of the living room 204. The application may also access arecipient online profile on social media or the stored profile of therecipient in the application to determine suitable gifts for therecipient. In some embodiments, the gift may be a stored-value cardredeemable at a specific retailer that the recipient frequently visitsas determined by object recognition of the gifting environment 200 oraccessing information related to the recipient from the onlinedatabases.

In some embodiments, the gift is a stored-value card and suggestions forpurchase may be provided by the application based on the value of thecard. Suggestions for purchase may also be made based on recognizedobjects in the gifting environment 200. For example, the application mayrecognize that there is the book 210 in the living room 204. Astored-value card may be selected as the gift by the application basedon a stored history of the recipient. The stored-value card may have atwenty-dollar value. The application may suggest or select astored-value card redeemable at a local bookstore that the recipientfrequently visits. The application may also suggest books for purchasethat cost approximately twenty dollars or any price corresponding to thevalue of the stored-value card or a credit associate with the retailer.The book suggestions may also be based on types of books recognized inthe scanned environment. Alternatively, the value associated with thestored-value card may be high such that a book stand or other relatedgift of a corresponding value is suggested.

In some embodiments, a selection of the book 210 for the gift may bemade by the gift giver based on suggestions provided by the application.For example, the gift giver may have a stored-value card, voucher, orother stored-value item associated with a vendor or product. Theapplication may suggest to the gift giver that a gift may be providedsuch as, for example, the book 210, by comparing a stored-value withproducts associated with the gift giver or the gift recipient throughany of the online databases described above.

Further, suggestions may be made based on the scanned environment. Forexample, if the lamp 212 is scanned by the gift giver using the givermobile device 202, the application may recognize the lamp 212 as anobject and search the online databases to find a retailer for the lamp212. A plurality of gifts may then be suggested to the gift giver basedon the lamp 212 and the retailer associated with the lamp 212. The giftgiver may select a suggested gift from the plurality of suggested giftsand add the gift to the application as a purchased gift. The applicationmay then add the virtual gift 214 to the augmented reality giftingenvironment 200 provided by a scan of the gifting environment 200. Theapplication may store the virtual gift 214 in the database of images andmay associate the gift with the gift giver and the recipient to use fortargeted marketing and suggestions.

In some embodiments, the application may link to third-party retailerssuch that the gift giver may find a gift at a website of the third-partyretailer and add the gift to the application. The application mayrecognize the gift and discern a suitable location within the giftingenvironment 200 for the virtual gift 214, representative of the gift, tobe placed. For example, the gift giver may purchase the book 210 from athird-party retailer as suggested by the application based on theavailable stored-value of the gift giver at the third-party retailer.Upon purchase of the book 210, the application may automatically imagethe book 210 and suggest placement of the image of the book 210 or placethe image of the book 210 as the virtual gift 214 via augmented realityon the coffee table 208 of the scanned living room 204.

Further, the application may market to the gift giver by displaying thegift in the gifting environment 200 of the gift giver prior to purchase.Continuing with the exemplary embodiment described above, theapplication may suggest the book 210 to the gift giver based on thestored-value associated with the third-party retailer, or a stored-valuecard, and the price of the book 210. The application may suggest thegift by placing it in a stored gifting environment associated with thegift giver or the recipient. The stored gifting environment may be apreviously used gifting environment 200. The gift may be suggested basedon a stored-value, a scanned environment, a profile of the gift giverand the recipient, and any online databases and social media accounts asdescribed above.

In some embodiments, the virtual gift 214 may be presented in a box,envelope, or any such template that may be provided by the applicationand customizable by the user. Images, text, video, personal hand writtenand scanned notes, caricatures of the gift giver and the recipient, orany other personalization may be virtually added to the giftingenvironment 200 or the virtual gift 214.

In some embodiments, the gifting environment 200 may be a residence ofthe gift giver or the recipient. For example, the embodiment depicted inFIG. 2A presents the living room 204 with the couch 206 and the coffeetable 208. In some embodiments, the images of the gifting environment200 may be uploaded such that the application may combine the uploadedimages or video with the virtual gift 214 to present the gift to therecipient. The images and video may also be taken using a camera on thegiver mobile device 202 or may be uploaded to the application from aperipheral device such as a camera, a computer, a tablet, or anotherdevice capable of taking a photograph or a video. Images and video ofthe gifting environment 200 may be stored on the giver mobile device 202and added to the application by drag-and-drop or any other method. Inother embodiments, the gifting environment 200 may be scanned in realtime by a recipient mobile device of the recipient during the process ofreceiving the gift or in advance as a part of registering theapplication.

In some embodiments, the gifting environment 200 may also be arestaurant, bowling alley, sports arena, or any other indoor location.The gifting environment 200 may also be an outdoor location. Forexample, the gift giver may scan or image a patio, deck, wooded area,beach, or any other outdoor location that the gift giver may use as thegifting environment 200 to present the gift. Further, the location maybe outdoors and the objects may include picnic tables, beaches, boats,decks, patios, or any other objects or environments that may be imagedand stored in the application database. The application may match theoutdoor area with locations and objects in a database with storedoutdoor scenes and find a suitable object and gift to suggest to thegift giver. Once selected, the object may be presented, via theapplication on the recipient mobile device, to the recipient.

In some embodiments, the application may utilize object recognition torecognize objects within the gifting environment 200 for placement orhiding of the virtual gift 214. The application may compare objects inthe images of the living room 204 with images in a database andrecognize shapes, colors, and arrangements of object within the livingroom 204 and compare those images with a database of objects andarrangements. The application may also relate the objects and thearrangements with similar objects and arrangements that are found in asimilar room from the database. The objects may be defined fromcontrasts between the objects and background and the shape may bematched to a database of shapes to determine the objects. Once theobjects are determined it may be determined if the objects are suitablefor the virtual gift 214 to be emplaced. The type of object and the typeof gift may be used to determine the placement of the virtual gift 214(e.g. flowers on a table or picture on a wall). For example, as depictedin FIG. 2A, the application may recognize that the couch 208 is in theliving room 204 by comparing the shape of the couch 208 to images in thedatabase. The application may recognize that the couch 208 may be anappropriate gift location to place, for example, a virtual gift such asa pillow or a blanket but appropriate for a picture or a bowl. Theapplication may also recognize the type of couch 208, the manufacturerof the couch 208, and retailers near the location of the gift giver andthe recipient that sell the couch 208. In some embodiments, theapplication may relate the couch 208 to other objects from themanufacturer or the retailer and suggest gifts that may complement thecouch 208 or any other objects in the room. In some embodiments, theapplication may access social media or the profile of the gift giver andthe recipient to make gift selections as described in more detail below.

In some embodiments, the application may detect objects that areunrecognized because they are partially concealed. Continuing with theabove-described exemplary embodiment, an object may be partiallyconcealed by the couch 206. The application may scan living room imagesin a database and determine that many couches in the database imageshave end tables at the location that the unrecognized object is located.The application may determine with a calculated level of confidence thatthe unrecognized object is an end table 216 and determine that the endtable 216 is a suitable location for the gift. The application may placethe virtual gift 214 on the end table 216 in the image such that thevirtual gift 214 is revealed when the recipient of the gift scans theliving room 204 with the camera of the recipient mobile device runningthe application.

In some embodiments, the application may determine an object byrecognizing a flat surface or a suitable location for the virtual gift214 emplacement based on the gift and the objects in the giftingenvironment 200. For example, the gift giver may buy a comforter at anonline third-party retailer and upload an image of the virtual gift 214to the application. The gift giver may also enter a number associatedwith the comforter or select a retailer in the application and selectthe comforter from options provided by the application accessing adatabase. For selection of the gifting environment 200, the gift givermay scan, for example, a bedroom. The application may recognize thebedroom and the objects in the bedroom and through augmented realityplace the virtual gift 214 or, for example, an image of the comforter onthe bed for viewing by the recipient upon viewing the bedroom with theapplication running on the recipient mobile device.

In the event that the software cannot define a suitable gift placementobject with a high level of certainty the application may offersuggestions to the gift giver for placement of the virtual gift 214. Forexample, the application may suggest that the lighting be changed in thegifting environment 200 or that the gift giver perform the scan of thegifting environment 200 from a different location such as inside or in adirection away from a light source.

In some embodiments, the application may receive input from the giftgiver such as room type or defining or labeling particular objects inthe gifting environment 200. For example, the gift giver scans a roomand the application is unable to discern the room type. The applicationprompts the gift giver to label the room. The user types “bedroom.” Theapplication may then narrow the options to known images of bedrooms tocompare objects within the room. Further, the gift giver may selectobjects and define the objects with text inputs such as “dresser” or“bed”. The application may then deduce that the gifting environment 214is a bedroom and narrow the database search to objects in a bedroom.From the text inputs and label recognition, the application may selectsuitable objects for placement of the virtual gift 214.

In some embodiments, the object may be selected by the gift giver. Thegift giver may select an object in a the living room 204 once the livingroom 204 has been scanned and the application has identified objects,the gift giver may select an object in the living room 204 for placementof the virtual gift 214. Once the object is selected, the virtual gift214 may appear on the screen in the gifting environment 200. The gift214 may be edited such that the gift giver may move the virtual gift 214in any translational or rotational way or change the size of the virtualgift 214 to place the virtual gift 214 in a realistic manner on theobject, for example, the coffee table 206 in the living room 204. Insome embodiments, the size, shape, and position of the virtual gift 214is changed automatically by the application to present a realisticplacement on the coffee table 206 within the gifting environment 200.

In certain embodiments, the virtual gift 214 may be tied to a particulargeographical location. The recipient may be presented with the virtualgift 214 or hints as to what the gift may be and may or may not accessthe gift unless the recipient is in a specified gift location or giftingenvironment 200. The gift location may be associated with GPScoordinates and the application may track a recipient location relativeto the location of the gift and/or direct the recipient to the locationof the gift. In some embodiments, the location of the gift is thegifting environment 200 for presentation of the virtual gift 214.

Turning now to FIG. 3A where, in some embodiments, a map 300 may bedisplayed on the recipient mobile device 302. The recipient location 304may be represented by a marker 306. The recipient location 304 may bevisible on the map 300 and, in certain embodiments, the applicationprovides hints to the recipient in an exemplary scavenger hunt typescenario. For example, the recipient may receive a notice that a giftthe virtual gift 214 is hidden and that the recipient must find it. Thenotice may be received from notification methods such as email, text,instant message, audio message, video message, application alerts, ormay be received from any user 138 associated social media site. Therecipient may receive more hints based on time spent looking for thegift or based on GPS location through features such as geo-fencing. Ifthe recipient is within a certain range or passes a certain checkpointmore hints may be provided. Similarly, if a certain time has passed andthe recipient is not making sufficient progress then further hints maybe provided. The frequency of hints may be customized by the gift giverand the recipient. Upon arrival to the gift location the recipient mayaccess the application and use the camera on the recipient mobile device302 to scan the area. For example, a picnic (the gift) is revealed as avirtual gift 214 on a blanket (the object) that the gift giver has leftfor a picnic. In other exemplary embodiments, picnic may be revealed tothe recipient as the virtual gift 214 at any point and the recipient mayneed to find the gift location which, in some embodiments, may be thegifting environment 214, to find the picnic (the gift). In someembodiments, the virtual gift 214 may be an electronic gift such as ane-card, voucher, token, or gift card.

In some embodiments, a proximate gift location 308 may be presented tothe recipient. This may narrow the search area for the recipient. Theapplication may provide hints using the proximate gifting location 308in an exemplary game of hot and cold. The location of the giftingenvironment 200 may be known through GPS or a proximity sensing method.The gift may be in the location and have an accessible GPS device or thelocation may be input by the gift giver when selecting and placing thegift as described in embodiments above. The application may providehints based on the location of the recipient mobile device 302 inrelation to the gift or the gifting environment 200. The application mayalso provide a hot indication when the recipient mobile device 302 isless than a designated distance from the gift and a cold indication whenthe recipient mobile device 302 is greater than designated distance fromthe gift. The indications may be provided by voice, text, or anyindication representing any hot, cold, or any other representativetemperature such as warm, cool, or ice cold. In some embodiments, thenotifications are provided on the map 300 as a proximity indicator 310that may be colored or provide text to indicate the proximity such as,for example, a calculated distance to the virtual gift 214. In someembodiments, the map 300 may be a heat map that displays differentlevels of hot and cold as the recipient moves closer to the virtual gift214 or the gifting environment 200.

In some embodiments, the gift may be received by accessing the web-basedapplication such that the recipient does not download the application.Alternatively, the recipient may have the application installed on therecipient mobile device 302 and may access the gift using the installedapplication. The recipient may get a notification via email, message,social media, or any other messaging system, or may receive an alert viathe installed application. Upon receiving the notification, therecipient may access the application and receive hints, instructions,personalized messages, text, video, or pictures uploaded by the giftgiver or selected from application provided templates.

FIG. 3B depicts on embodiment of the recipient mobile device 302presenting the gifting environment 200 with the virtual gift 214displayed on the coffee table 208. In some embodiments, the recipientmay be at any location and view the scanned gifting environment 200including the virtual gift 214. For example, the recipient may be atwork and receive a text message that a gift has been left in therecipient's living room 204 and that the virtual gift 214 may be viewedvia the application. Upon accessing the application on the recipientmobile device 302, the recipient views the living room 204 with thevirtual gift 214 on the coffee table 208. The recipient arrives home toreceive the gift on the living room 204 coffee table 208 as viewed viathe gifting environment 200 on the recipient mobile device 302.

In some embodiments, the virtual gift 214 is presented in the giftingenvironment 200 to the recipient as depicted in FIG. 3B. In someembodiments, the recipient must be in or otherwise viewing theenvironment represented by the virtual gifting environment 200 to viewthe virtual gift 214. The application may recognize the objects as therecipient scans the gifting environment 200 and places or presents thevirtual gift 214 thus presenting the virtual gift 214 to the recipient.For example, the recipient may be in the living room 204 and scan theliving room 204 with the recipient mobile device 302. The applicationmay recognize that the recipient mobile device 302 is at the correctlocation by GPS and by recognition of the objects in the giftingenvironment 200. When the recipient scans the coffee table 208, theapplication recognizes the coffee table 208 as the object for placementof the virtual gift 214 and presents the virtual gift 214 in augmentedreality in real time as the gifting environment 200 is scanned via therecipient mobile device 302. In this case, the view of the living room204 may be a live view from the camera of the recipient mobile device302 and the virtual gift 214 is added to the scene through augmentedreality.

In some embodiments, the recipient may use the camera of the recipientmobile device 302 running the application downloaded on the recipientmobile device 302 or through an online website. The recipient may viewthe living room 204 via the camera. When the coffee table 208 comes intoview, the virtual gift 214 may be displayed on the coffee table 208 inaugmented reality. This provides the recipient with a view of thevirtual gift 214 in the living room 204. This is a surprise to therecipient and also provides the recipient and the gift giver a methodfor viewing the gift in the gifting environment 200 prior to acceptingthe gift.

In some embodiments, the recipient may modify or select different giftsto be displayed as the virtual gift 214. For example, the gift may bethe couch 206. The recipient may not care for the color of the couch 206and may access the third-party retailer and change the color as desired.This may provide the recipient the option to see the virtual gift 214 inthe living room 204 before purchase or accepting the gift. Further, thegift giver may provide selection for different colors, sizes, or anyother option for the gift such that the recipient may scroll through thedifferent options as the virtual gift 214 in the gifting environment 200and select the most desired.

FIG. 3C depicts the recipient mobile device 302 displaying the virtualgift 214. When the recipient has located the virtual gift 214, thevirtual gift 214 may be selected and the gift 306 accepted. The gift 306may be received by any method of interaction with the recipient mobiledevice 302. The recipient may interact with the recipient mobile device302 by tilting, shaking, touching, swiping, and making a facialexpression or movement detected by the application accessing the cameraof the recipient mobile device 302. For example, the virtual gift 214may be wrapped as depicted in FIG. 3B. The recipient may touch, swipe,or otherwise interact with the recipient mobile device 302 in any methodas describe above and the virtual gift 214 unwraps to reveal the gift.In some embodiments, the gift 312 may also be revealed or accessedthrough biometric identification such as facial, retinal, fingerprint,or any other biometric recognition.

Upon reveal of the gift 312, the application may access peripheraldevices of the recipient mobile device 302 to provide feedback to therecipient. For example, the application may provide a sound, forexample, of the virtual gift 214 unwrapping, or a vibration of therecipient mobile device 302, or lights illuminating on the recipientmobile device 302. The camera of the recipient mobile device 302 mayautomatically activate taking images or video to capture the recipientat the time of the reveal or when the gifting environment 200 isdetected by the application.

In some embodiments, the gift 312 may be a token as depicted in FIG. 3C,or any gift card, e-card, or voucher that may be redeemable online orelectronically redeemable. In some embodiments, the gift 312 may be aphysical gift that may be sent directly to the recipient upon selectionand acceptance. The physical gift may be sent to any user 138 that maybe associated with an account or profile accessible by the application.

In some embodiments, the gift 312 may be revealed with a personalmessage 314. The personal message 314 may be text, audio, video,photographs, or any other method of customization for displaying apersonalized item to the recipient. The personal message 314 may alsolink to a website of the gift giver, the recipient, or a third-partyretailer of the gift 312. In some embodiments, the personal message 314provides the options for modifying the gift 312 as described inembodiments above. After modification of the gift 312 the recipient mayreturn to the gifting environment 200 and view the modified virtual gift214 in the gifting environment 200 as described in embodiments above.

In some embodiments, the gift 312 is presented with a gift receipt or agift receipt is sent to the recipient automatically upon accepting thegift 312. The gift receipt may be sent via text message, email, instantmessage, through a social media account, or any other method thatinformation may be passed to the recipient. In some embodiments, thegift receipt is uploaded to the profile of the recipient such that therecipient may view and print the gift receipt at any time.

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary flow diagram 400 for embodiments of theinvention. At step 402 the profile of the user 138 is created and/orupdated. The user 138, in the case of a gift giver, may create a profileassociated with the application such that the user 138 may access theapplication for, in some embodiments, selection and purchase of the gift312 and placement the virtual gift 214 in the gifting environment 200 asdescribed in embodiments above. The user 138, in the case of therecipient, may create a profile and utilize the application to receivethe gift 312 via the recipient mobile device 302 displaying the virtualgift 214 in the gifting environment 200.

At step 404, the gift giver may receive offers or suggestions for giftsbased on the profile of the gift giver or the recipient as inembodiments described above. The application may access any informationassociated with the gift giver and the recipient provided by the giftgiver and the recipient on the profile such as, for example, age,physical features, location, friends, favorite sports, favorite TVshows, favorite music, or any other information that may be used toselect the gift 312. The gift giver may select at least one gift 312from a plurality of suggested gifts or the gift giver may select thegift 312 that the gift giver chooses online or in store.

At step 406, the gift giver may utilize the camera associated with thegiver mobile device 202 and take an image or video of the giftingenvironment 200 as described in embodiments presented above. The imageor video may be used to select objects for placement of the virtual gift214 and for reveal of the gift 312 to the recipient.

At step 408, the gift giver may place the virtual gift 214, or select alocation, in the gifting environment 200 for the virtual gift 214 to bepresented as describe in embodiments presented above. The gift giver maychoose from objects in the gifting environment 200 suggested by theapplication or the gift giver may select on object or just place thevirtual gift 214 anywhere in the gifting environment 200. The gift givermay also provide a GPS location of the virtual gift 214 and the giftingenvironment 200 for use with embodiments of the invention. Theapplication may use the location of the virtual gift 214 and the giftingenvironment 200 to send information to the recipient.

At step 410, a notification may be sent to the recipient providinginformation related to the gift 312 as described in embodimentspresented above. The notification may indicate that the gift 312 iswaiting for the recipient and may provide location information or hintsas to the location of the gift 312. Personal information or greetingssuch as Happy Birthday, Congratulations, or any other celebratorygreeting or personally customized content from text, images, videos, orthe like may be provided with the notification. In some embodiments, thegifting environment 200 and the virtual gift 214 may also be sent orotherwise linked to the notification.

At step 412, the recipient may search for the gifting environment 200and the virtual gift 214 as described in embodiments above. Therecipient may receive notifications and hints directing the recipient tothe location of the virtual gift 214. The notifications may be providedat regular intervals or periodically based on time or location of therecipient mobile device 302 relative to the location of the virtual gift214 and the gifting environment 200.

At step 414, the gifting environment 200 may be displayed via the cameraof the recipient mobile device 302. The recipient may utilize therecipient mobile device 302 to scan the gifting environment 200. Theapplication may recognize the objects in the gifting environment 200 andplace the virtual gift 214 in the scanned image of the recipient thuspresenting the virtual gift 214 to the recipient in real time as thegifting environment 200 is scanned.

At step 416, the virtual gift 214 is selected. The recipient may selectthe virtual gift 214 by touching, swiping, speaking, or making a gesturerecognized by any sensor of the recipient mobile device 302 that maysense any interaction from the recipient. In some embodiments, apersonal message 314 is also presented that may be selectable andprovide a link to a website or third-party retailer.

At step 418, the gift 312 is presented to the recipient. Upon selectionof the virtual gift 214 the gift 312 may be revealed to the recipient asdescribed in embodiments above. The reveal may be animated in theaugmented reality environment such as with a gift opening, fireworks,animals celebrating, or any other celebratory display or animation thatmay be selected by the gift giver or the application. The gift 312reveal may also include the personal message 314 that may be from thegift giver or a plurality of gift givers, and may be a text, images,videos, audio, or any other personal message 314.

At step 420, the recipient may input modifications and accept the gift312 as described in embodiments above. The user 138 may access athird-party retailer and modify the colors, shapes, designs, sizes, orany other features and view the virtual gift 214 with the modificationsin the gifting environment 200 prior to accepting the gift 312.

At step 422, the gift 312 may be automatically sent along with a giftreceipt to the recipient upon accepting the gift 312 as described inembodiments above. The address and any other information from therecipient may be obtained from the profile of the recipient or theprofile of the gift giver.

At any time and any interaction with the user 138 the application andprofiles may update. Any information gained from the interaction withthe user 138 may be stored for future use and to modify offers andsuggestions of gifts and personal information associated with the user138.

Any steps provided in embodiments of the invention and described inmethods may be omitted, added, and rearranged. Multiple methods forselecting and placing and receiving and accepting gifts may be utilizedas described in embodiments provided herein.

Some embodiments of the invention utilize machine learning, neuralnetworks, fuzzy logic, or any other statistical, or general mathematicalalgorithm or artificial intelligence to increase the efficiency of theapplication and create a more user-friendly experience. The mathematicalalgorithms may be used for recommending gifts based on online databasessuch as social media or location and user demographics. The mathematicalalgorithms may be used along with user feedback to increase environmentrecognition and discern objects within the gifting environment 200. Forexample, in the event that an object is placed in a location that is notsuitable for the gift 312 such as, for example, an electronic deviceplaced in a sink, the user 128 may provide negative feedback and theresults of the process may be re-evaluated, stored, and incorporatedinto the algorithms for future use. Further, positive feedback may beused to strengthen the positive outcomes thus increasing the likelihoodof positive outcomes and decreasing the likelihood of negative outcomes.

Although the invention has been described with reference to theembodiments illustrated in the attached drawing figures, it is notedthat equivalents may be employed and substitutions made herein withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention.

Having thus described various embodiments, what is claimed as new anddesired to be protected by Letters Patent includes the following:

1. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storingcomputer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor,perform a method of presenting a virtual gift to a recipient usingaugmented reality, the method comprising the steps of: receiving aselection of a gift from a gift giver; receiving at least one image of agifting environment via a giver mobile device; receiving a scan of thegifting environment from a recipient mobile device; and presenting thevirtual gift in a real-time scan of the gifting environment on therecipient mobile device to create the augmented reality of the giftingenvironment.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the stepreceiving a gift environment location via the giver mobile device. 3.The method of claim 2, wherein the gifting environment location isreceived as with GPS coordinates.
 4. The method of claim 3, furthercomprising the step of providing at least one notification to therecipient via the recipient mobile device, wherein the at least onenotification is indicative of at least one of the gifting environmentlocation and a virtual gift location.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the step of receiving a virtual gift location within thegifting environment from the giver mobile device.
 6. The method of claim5, wherein the virtual gift location is selected by the gift giver viathe giver mobile device from a plurality of virtual gift locationsrecognized in the gifting environment.
 7. The method of claim 6, whereinthe virtual gift location is recognized using object recognition and thevirtual gift is presented to the recipient via the recipient mobiledevice at the virtual gift location during the real-time scan.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the virtual gift is a virtual representationof the gift retrieved from an online website of a third-party retailer.9. The method of claim 1, wherein the recipient receives at least onenotification when the virtual gift is placed in the gifting environment.10. The method of claim 1, wherein the gift is selected by the giftgiver via the gift giver mobile device from a plurality of suggestedgifts.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the gift is revealed to therecipient upon receiving an input via the recipient mobile device. 12.The method of claim 11, wherein the input is at least one of a touch ofthe recipient mobile device, a movement of the recipient mobile device,and an expression of the recipient recorded via a camera associated withthe recipient mobile device, wherein the gift is revealed by at leastone of unwrapping the virtual gift, opening the virtual gift, and acelebratory display, and wherein the gift is at least one of a physicalgift, a gift card, a token, and an electronically redeemable gift.
 13. Amethod for selecting and presenting a virtual gift to a recipient usingaugmented reality, the method comprising the steps of: receiving aselection of a gift from a gift giver; receiving at least one image of agifting environment via a giver mobile device; discerning a plurality ofobjects from the gifting environment; determining at least one objectfrom the plurality of objects for placement of the virtual gift; andpresenting the gifting environment and the virtual gift to the giftrecipient.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the virtual gift is animage taken by a camera associated with the giver mobile device.
 15. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the virtual gift is an image retrieved froma third-party website.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the at leastone object is determined from the plurality of objects by objectrecognition.
 17. A method for presenting a gift to a recipient usingaugmented reality, the method comprising the steps of: receiving anotification indicative of a gift for the recipient; receiving anindication of a location of at least one of a gifting environment or avirtual gift; scanning the gifting environment with a camera associatedwith a recipient mobile device; selecting, using the recipient mobiledevice, the virtual gift from the gifting environment; and viewing thegift via the recipient mobile device.
 18. The method of claim 17,further comprising the step of receiving a personal message with thegift via the recipient mobile device.
 19. The method of claim 18,wherein the personal message is at least one of a text message, a videomessage, and an audio message.
 20. The method of claim 17, furthercomprising the step of selecting an option to modify the gift andviewing a modified virtual gift in the gifting environment via therecipient mobile device.